Chopra leading at wet Singapore 

Source: ReutersDaniel Chopra of Sweden plays a shot

Sweden's Daniel Chopra fired a sizzling six-under-par 65 to take the clubhouse lead after the second round of the Singapore Open on Saturday following a second weather delay which put the tournament well behind schedule.

Chopra was one of only 61 players to finish their second rounds after another stop-start day at the Sentosa Golf Club and his seven-under par total put him two shots clear of those who have completed 36 holes.

"I am very happy. I started out yesterday edgy with all the delays but came out today feeling better," Chopra told reporters after registering six birdies in a bogey-free round.

First round leader Ian Poulter and Taiwanese qualifier Chan Yih-shin are also on seven-under for the tournament but both have yet to reach the turn and will return with a majority of the field to complete their second rounds on Sunday morning.

Australia's Andrew Dodt and China's Liang Wenchong are two shots off the lead on five under after both recorded three-under-par 69s, along with Japan's Kodai Ichihara who has only completed six holes of his second round.

Ernie Els is a further shot adrift after three holes of his second round, the South African joining Briton Ross McGowan (69), India's Gaganjeet Bhullar (67) and Australia's Scott Hend (66) in a share of seventh place.

Chopra walked off the course in near darkness on Friday after limping through eight holes of his opening round in two-over-par. But he returned early on Saturday and played 28 holes of bogey-free golf to rocket to the top of the leaderboard.

Pulled clear

Starting his second round on one-under for the tournament, the 35-year-old Swede went out in 32 to move into contention and pulled clear of the chasing pack with back-to-back birdies on six and seven (his 15th and 16th).

"I am just trying to get used to the greens. They are obviously a bit slower than what I am used to," added Chopra, who plays a majority of his golf on the US PGA Tour.

"I missed a few short putts, but it is getting better."

Chopra has endured a fairly frustrating season and he is the first to admit he has played poorly after recording two victories in the US within the space of four months from Oct. 2007.

"This year of all my years since going to America I feel I have under achieved the most," he added.

"This is the best I have felt about my game in a long time. It is just a matter of getting a few breaks and getting some momentum going."

Liang won the Singapore Masters in 2007 and clearly enjoys competing in the Southeast Asian city-state but the Chinese number one's hopes of leading the tournament at the halfway stage were let down by poor control on the shorter holes.

"I was happy with my round today except for a couple of par threes where I had bogeys," he admitted.

"My body movement caused my tee shots to go to the right and it was hard to recover from there.

"These tournaments (in Singapore) give me the opportunity to play against the best players in the world and I get inspired by that. It also gives me extra motivation."

The cut is projected at two-over par, meaning Ireland's Padraig Harrington ( 1), Australia's Geoff Ogilvy ( 2) and American world number two Phil Mickelson (-1 after 22 holes) should all be around for the weekend.

Leading scores

-7  Daniel Chopra (Sweden)            70 65 
-5  Andrew Dodt (Australia)           69 68 
Liang Wenchong (China)            69 68 
-4  Gaganjeet Bhullar (India)         71 67 
Scott Hend (Australia)            72 66 
Ross McGowan (England)            69 69 
-3  Richard Finch (England)           71 68 
-2  James Kingston (South Africa)     74 66 
Chapchai Nirat (Thailand)         73 67 
Charl Schwartzel (South Africa)   72 68